nfl films

Joe Posnanski, Steve Sabol, and a story about a storyteller

As a teenager I bought many CDs that I view today with a certain degree of embarrassment.

This was not one of them.

I was (and maybe still am, though I have no idea where it is buried) the proud owner of The Power and the Glory: The Music of NFL Films. I listened to the cinematic compositions of Sam Spence and the booming voice of John Facenda without knowing either man’s name. I immersed myself guilt-free into a world where the NFL consisted of gladiators battling for glory, a task that is far more difficult in my adult years. I played the album over and over, often as a Sunday adrenaline-builder before watching my hometown New York Jets.

And I think, on some level, I knew who was responsible for this jewel of an album.

Steve Sabol.

I knew Sabol as the voice and face of NFL Films; he popped up as the host of ESPN’s Super Bowl Memories, which would play during the playoffs every January. Even before his passing last year at the age of 69, I thought of him as a nostalgic figure of my childhood, someone who played an integral role in making the NFL my favorite sport. In my eyes, he was a two-dimensional figure.

That is no longer the case.

And the man responsible for that is Joe Posnanski.

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